Let’s go back in time and learn a little piece of history about hybrid engines and fuel cells during the 20th century. I bet this stuff is older than your Mercedes S430 radiator hose. Anyway, let’s dig in with the details provided by my source!

THE 20TH CENTURY

1904: Henry Ford starts his assembly-line production of “low-priced, lightweight, gas-powered vehicles” and as a result, the Electric Vehicle Company was unsuccessful in the next few years.

1905: American engineer H. Piper records a copyright for a petrol-electric hybrid car.

1913: Steamers and electrics were about to be phased out with the discovery of the self-starter which provided convenience to drivers to start gas engines. Sales of electric cars went down to 6,000 and the Ford Model T sells nearly 182,000 gasoline vehicles.

1920-1965: The period which the mass-production of electric and hybrid cars went stationary.

1966: First bill introduced by Congress with a recommendation to use electric vehicles to reduce air pollution.

1970s: The Arab oil embargo of 1973 brings increased gasoline prices and a new interest in electric and hybrid vehicles.

1975: Government program to develop electric and hybrid technology is applied by the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration.

1976: Public Law 94-413, the Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1976 – Congress endorses regulation to start work with production to develop “batteries, motors, controllers, and other hybrid-electric components.”

1977-1979: Electric vehicles are likely to be in production by the mid-1980s.

1991: United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) unveiled a program to create a “super” battery that expects of achieving electric vehicles on the road ASAP.

1992: Toyota Motor Company released a document that summarizes objectives to expand and promote vehicles with the lowest emissions possible. It was called the “Earth Charter.”

1997: Japan – the Toyota Prius rolls in dealerships and sells about 18,000 vehicles in the first year.